EXCLUSIVE: 'I didn't have a drinking problem - but I didn't have a drinking solution.' Steve Bannon guzzled beers, champagne and Bloody Marys - but went cold turkey and got sober thanks to his Catholic faith and daily 'spiritual exercises'

Steve Bannon swore off drinking after he nursed a bad hangover with Bloody Marys, champagne and six beers before bed one night in 1998

The now 63-year-old decided to call it quits because two months of the London drinking culture made him think: 'I look like s**t, and I feel like s**t'

Bannon used his deeply rooted Catholicism to help him stay sober with the teachings of St. Ignatius Loyola by partaking in daily spiritual exercises

The former Navy man's upbringing, career and time with Donald Trump are revealed in the new book, Bannon: Always the Rebel by Keith Koffler

Bannon was ousted from the White House in August and is now back at the helm of his right-wing news 'machine' website Breitbart

He has 'banished' Doritos and is on a juice cleanse to 'get in shape for the battles to come' focusing on China and his West Wing enemies, according to the author

The graduate of Virginia Tech was also featured in a Glamour magazine looking like 'Robert Redford' for his work criminalizing selling pre-written term papers

Steve Bannon decided to give up booze cold turkey after realizing he looked 'like s**t' - and embraced a daily religious routine to help him stay sober, according to a new biography about the former chief strategist to Donald Trump.

Bannon, who had been drinking since high school, decided to give up alcohol when he nursed a hangover with Bloody Marys, and champagne on a flight from London to Los Angeles before downing an additional six beers.

The 63-year-old decided to call it quits in 1998 after spending two months commuting between Los Angeles and London, where he was party of a non-stop drinking culture in the financial sector and realizing: 'I look like s**t, and I feel like s**t'.

'I didn't have a drinking problem but I didn't have a drinking solution,' Bannon admits in the upcoming book, Bannon: Always the Rebel, by Keith Koffler.

Bannon found a solution within his religion, Catholicism, and embraced the spiritual 'five-step' meditation program of St. Ignatius Loyola to help him stay sober.

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Steve Bannon swore off drinking in 1998 and credits a daily 'spiritual exercise' of his Catholic faith for helping him stay sober, according to the upcoming book, Bannon: Always the Rebel

Raucous: The 'centerpiece of life was the joy of male bonding over beers' for Bannon, who had been drinking since his student days and was photographed at Harvard Business School in 1983

In the late 1990s Bannon was working in London for Hambros, the tony British investment bank that had just been bought by French bank Societe Generale and 'started to consume alcohol at a new level of intensity'.

At the time, Bannon reflected that his 'centerpiece of life was the joy of male bonding over beers' and despite his high intake of alcohol, he managed to 'hide the problem well'.

So the former Navy man let Catholicism be his solution by practicing daily spiritual exercises, where he would 'center himself' in the morning and at night 'review the day with gratitude', which was basically praying, Bannon explained.

He performs the daily spiritual exercise, known as the 'examen', in which he self-reviews his faith by 'examining one's conscience, of mediating, contemplating, praying vocally and mentally, and performing other spiritual actions', according to The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyal.

Along with Zen Catholicism, The Brotherhood of the Common Life and Its Influence, and The Imitation of Christ, Bannon used these readings to stay sober.

Some of the literature encourages followers to have 'bodily' exercises so the soul can 'rid itself of all the disordered tendencies' and to find the 'Divine Will to the management of one's life for the salvation of the soul'.

Another proposes followers to wake up in the morning and 'guard himself with diligence against that particular sin or defect which he wants to correct and amend'.

Bannon says he hasn't had a drop of booze in nearly 20 years, looking back at his drinking days with 'some measure of contempt'.

He said: 'First thing I noticed, f**k, these guys bore the s**t out of me. It's all ridiculous. You sit there sober and you're sitting there going, "I could not have possibly have done this and thought it was great." I just noticed that, if you're not drinking it's the stupid hour.'

The new book also reveals that Bannon, 63, has been on a juice cleanse, 'determined to lose weight and get in shape for the battles to come'. The diet may help him return to his heyday - he was featured in Glamour in 1975. Pictured: Bannon during his time at Virginia Tech in 1976

His former classmates at the time described him as being 'cool' and 'something of a ladies' man', alumni told the author. Another quipped that Bannon 'is a handsome guy', adding that he looked like a 'wavy-haired Robert Redford'. Pictured: Bannon in 1984 (left) in his 20s (right)

And swearing off alcohol hasn't been the only dietary change Bannon has made in the name of bettering himself.

He recently decided to put himself on a 'severe new dietary regime' after his ousting from the White House and President Trump's inner circle in August.

Bannon is now back in control of his 'machine' - the right-wing news site Breitbart - and is 'determined to lose weight and get in shape for the battles to come', writes the author.

His new meal plan banished bags of Doritos to the trash can, replacing the cheesy powdered chips with 'thick green' and 'vinegary' juices.

The strict diet might help Bannon get into the same shape he was in when he was featured in Glamour magazine for its August 1975 edition.

Bannon, the student body president, was being profiled along with other Virginia Tech students who were trying to make selling pre-written term papers illegal in Virginia.

His former classmates at the time described him as being 'cool' and 'something of a ladies' man', alumni told the author.

A friend recalled: 'I remember he had very attractive young ladies around him all the time'.

Another quipped that Bannon 'is a handsome guy', adding that he looked like a 'wavy-haired Robert Redford'.

Koffler's book, complete with interviews with Bannon's family, former business partners, friends and former White House colleagues, helps shine a light on Bannon's upbringing and his rise to power.

Bannon's ideas on climate change, the economy and immigration helped shape Trump's policy on the campaign trail and in the White House

Friends touch on how Bannon was a force to be reckoned with at Harvard Business school due to his charisma, knowledge and willingness to work harder than anyone else.

One classmate mentioned that Bannon used to dress better than he does now and was a 'big preppy guy', wearing IZOD and Lacoste.

Before working for Trump and before taking over Brietbart, Bannon worked for Goldman Sachs and later ventured out to start his own firm.

It was then, he worked as a consultant at Biosphere 2, a research facility in Arizona that built closed ecological systems to explore the possibility of supporting life in space.

After a slightly disastrous run, he helped re-brand the space to be used for environmental scientists who were 'studying the global change and studying the effects of greenhouse gases', Bannon said in a C-SPAN interview in 1995.

However, years later Bannon seemed to change his tune when he became one of the main backers of Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris accord on climate change in June.

His staunch support of the controversial move led to reports of him squabbling with Ivanka Trump, who is rumored to have helped orchestrate his ousting along with her husband Jared Kushner.

Bannon dubbed the couple 'Javanka' and now, back in charge of Breitbart, will be 'going to war' with them and his West Wing enemies.

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Bannon's news website Breitbart has received backlash for what critics claim provides a platform for white nationalist speech. He acknowledges the comment section of the site 'got a little rough' but seemed to be 'dismissive of the racist element,' according to the book's author

Bannon has dubbed Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner 'Javanka', who are rumored to have helped orchestrate Bannon's White House ousting in August

Bannon's main beef with 'Javanka' is an ideological one, as he believes they'll compel the president to abandon some of his more economic nationalist positions, on issues like immigration, to appease moderates that Bannon thinks will never like Trump.

'They hate the very mention of his name,' Bannon said of moderates previously, and Democrats too, that he saw the first daughter and her husband courting. 'There is no constituency for this.'

Bannon touches on Islam in the new book, remarking that the religion itself is 'not a problem' and likens its religious path 'to enlightenment or a path to God', similar to the ones Christians and Jews take.

However, Bannon believes that Islam struggles with modernity.

Bannon: Always the Rebel is available for purchase on Monday

He told the author: 'It is very evident when you look at Islam, it has not had its meeting with the Enlightenment.

'It has not had that transition to modernity. Aspects of it...are quite radical and quite radical in proselytizing, where no other religion can be accepted.'

He acknowledged that any religion can become radicalized, but radicalism 'is more prevalent and dangerous within Islam', Bannon said.

And he believes that 'we're so close to losing America as the culture we know'.

Bannon said: 'That's why there's an opioid crisis. I mean, we have a crisis in the Midwest and with the working class around the country where people have lost their jobs, and now they have to get government assistance.

'They lose their dignity. And what do they do? They do opioids and go look at pornography.'

Bannon argues that America is also being 'colonized through immigration - de facto open borders' which he believes is a 'cultural suicide pact', the author writes.

His line of thinking on the issue was a force behind Trump's controversial immigration and travel ban, which was widely called a Muslim ban, furthering cries that Trump was enabling white nationalism.

Bannon's news website Breitbart has also received much backlash for what critics believe helped establish a platform for hate speech and white nationalist views.

He acknowledges that the comment section of the site 'got a little rough' at one point before it was moderated but seemed to be 'dismissive of the racist element', according to the author.

Bannon said: 'You're forewarned. Don't go down there if you're a snowflake. Don't go down there if you are a precious flower.'